Trackers vs. Media Servers

How to choose a source of truth between trackers and media servers.

Trackers and media servers solve different problems. Do not treat them as interchangeable.

Trackers

Trackers include Trakt, SIMKL, and MDBList.

Best for:

• A portable watch history across devices.

• Ratings and recommendations.

• Watchlists that outlive any single server.

• One profile across multiple servers.

Media servers

Media servers include Plex, Jellyfin, and Emby.

Best for:

• Scanning files and building a playable library.

• Streaming to your devices.

• Local users and profiles.

• Playback state for what actually played.

Recommended direction: media server -> tracker

This is the safest default.

Reasons:

• The server knows what actually played.

• The tracker turns it into portable history.

• Multiple servers still roll up into one tracker profile.

• Server ratings can feed the tracker ecosystem.

If you must pick a source of truth, do this:

• Media server for playback.

• Tracker for long-term history and discovery.

When to sync tracker to media server

Do this only when you know the risks. It can overwrite local users and curated libraries.

Common reasons:

• You only use the server as a playback surface.

• Your tracker is the only place you edit lists and ratings.

Related topics

• Best practice - recommended defaults.

• Syncing - setup steps.

• Tracker to Media Server - why it is risky.

• Media Server to Media Server - why it is fragile.